Understanding Economic Impact Studies for Cruise Destinations

Since joining Oxford Economics Matthew has built on his expertise in economic consultancy,​ developing a specialty in economic impact assessments, cost-benefit analysis and policy development. Currently, Matthew helps lead the EMEA tourism consultancy unit within Oxford Economics.

Matthew has completed a number of tourism impact and policy studies for destinations around the world as well as for discrete parts of the accommodation and aviation sectors. He has also been the lead analyst for the development of a number of tourism satellite accounts and has been heavily involved in our work to assess the total economic value of various cultural and environmental assets.

Previously Matthew worked at KPMG, where he focused on winning and delivering economic consultancy work in key local, national and European markets. Matthew holds a first-class economics degree from the University of Ulster.

Michael Greve is the Practice Lead, Cruise Port Development & Investment Advisory at Tourism Economics. He advises governments, cruise lines, and investors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia on cruise tourism strategy, destination development, and port investment.

Michael has more than 25 years of experience in the cruise industry as a developer, investor, and adviser. His earlier career included corporate planning and commercial development roles at Royal Caribbean Group, where he managed port and destination projects, including CocoCay, PortMiami, San Juan, and other projects in the Caribbean and Alaska. He has also served as a consultant to Carnival Corporation, advising on port developments including Celebration Key, Grand Turk, and Mahogany Bay.

He brings a practical approach to projects, rooted in financial feasibility and focused on creating economic value through cruise tourism. In total, he has been involved in more than 70 tourism and cruise projects across 20 countries.

Miki Reiser is the Senior Business Development Manager for Travel & Tourism in the Americas at Oxford Economics. He works with cruise lines and destinations across the region to strengthen strategy with data, research and analytics. Miki is leading the commercial engagements for the 2026/2027 Cruise Economic Impact Study in the Caribbean. For any questions regarding participation in the project please reach out to him at [email protected] or (305) 799-0278.

Jamie Charles is an Associate Director in Tourism Economics’ consulting practice, based in London. He leads the day-to-day delivery of economic impact assessments for industry associations, corporate clients, public sector bodies, developers, and investors.

Jamie has extensive experience in economic impact assessment across a broad range of sectors. Prior to joining the Oxford Economics group (in which Tourism Economics sits) in 2023, he spent nine years at EY, including six years in EY’s Economic Advisory practice, where he published several economic impact assessments and supported clients with promotion and advocacy. His work includes a particular focus on visitor impact analysis, alongside broader experience applying input-output economic modelling to quantify GDP, employment, and wider economic impacts for clients internationally. He brings a rigorous, evidence-led approach to economic impact modelling, translating complex analysis into clear, public-facing findings for a wide variety of clients.

Jamie holds a first-class BSc in Economics from the University of Warwick and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Sean brings a wealth of tourism market research and analytics experience to Tourism Economics having spent nearly two decades undertaking a wide variety of research and consulting assignments in the UK and beyond.

Sean’s responsibilities include managing primary and secondary research activities, including survey work, for our travel and hospitality projects and collaborating closely with clients to enable a deeper understanding of tourism trends. A meticulous analyst with a deep understanding of the industry, Sean plays an important role delivering our tourism and hospitality research reports and regularly shares travel and consumer insights at industry conferences.

Prior to joining Tourism Economics in 2023, Sean was a Director at STR for over 5 years and prior to that he was Managing Director of LJ Research, a boutique tourism market research agency. Most recently, during his tenure at STR he was responsible for leading their Tourism Consumer Insights division which delivered a broad range of tourism and hospitality studies. This included collecting and disseminating powerful consumer insights and B2B data such as hotel performance data and business intelligence to help tourism organisations grow and make more effective decisions.

Sean studied Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He still lives in Edinburgh and works remotely from there.